A team of their own: New baseball squad represents Willmar’s Latino community

Before his squad took the field in Willmar for a new contest Jean Morales encouraged them to play with pleasure Baseball is a humbling sport the manager commented At-bats end in outs far more often than in hits A shortstop can field nine clean ground balls only to be remembered for one costly error So Morales tells his players to have fun out there above all We play the match happy and loud and with heart he stated I feel like I m playing back home with them Back home for Morales is Puerto Rico where he grew up playing baseball Knowing how a great number of fellow Latinos in the Willmar area shared his love for the battle he decided to start a new amateur unit for them this year The Willmar Indians including Morales is composed of players with Nicaraguan Venezuelan Mexican Puerto Rican and Cuban backgrounds he declared Multiple organization members hadn t played organized baseball until this season their experience limited to pick-up games Minnesota has an established league for players with Latin American heritage the Liga Latina de Beisbol Minnesota Being based on the Twin Cities area however makes it a far reach from Willmar Joining one of the existing amateur teams in the area would ve also been hard for multiple players given language gaps Morales reported For that reason starting a squad of Latino players means a lot It feels good because the Latin neighborhood should feel welcome here and they shouldn t be afraid of enjoying sport he commented It s something to do that s not just work Jean Morales prepares to swing for the Willmar Indians during an at-bat on July against the Granite Falls Kilowatts The Indians went on to defeat the Kilowatts - Credit MinnPost photo by Brian Arola Long in the making Willmar in west-central Minnesota is about one-quarter Hispanic or Latino according to U S Census material Kandiyohi County has one of the highest percentages of Hispanic and Latino residents in the state at All players on the group are from the city and surrounding area Morales disclosed the crew name recognizes the Native heritage of him and other players on the squad it can also reference the West Indies Minnesota and other states have moved to outlaw American Indian logos and mascots from school districts in professional baseball Cleveland removed its Indians name in favor of the Guardians in but the name remains common on the state s amateur baseball scene At least four more teams use it in Norwood Shakopee Sleepy Eye and Waterville Related What s in a nickname Minnesota s replacement of American Indian mascots puts state at odds with Trump Amateur baseball is a summertime staple in Greater Minnesota The Minnesota Baseball Association MBA boasts around member teams competing in three classes A B and C The Willmar Indians are in Class B playing independently this season against mainly Corn Belt League foes from Bird Island Marshall Wabasso and other ball clubs in the region Next year the association plans to be an official member of the Corn Belt League Morales came to Willmar in to play college ball at Ridgewater College Starting up his own amateur baseball squad has been a goal long in the making revealed his wife Raquel Morales He s been talking about it almost since I met him she commented with a laugh Having so countless new players to organized baseball presented a learning curve for the crew in their inaugural season Mistakes piled up early on Morales mentioned including in a loss in an all-Willmar matchup against the Rails the population s long-established townball organization The thing that s been killing us is the errors but we ve been putting men on base he mentioned Jaciel Cardenas a pitcher third baseman and second baseman on the crew enjoys the competition compared with high school ball A participant at Atwater Cosmos Grove City School he joined the company after hearing that Morales a family friend was looking for players It s a good experience playing with older guys he declared It s harder competition and more fun The unit has wins to show for their hard work On July a hot humid night meeting at Swansson Orange Field they came back to win - against the Granite Falls Kilowatts Jose Ortiz and Raymond Rodriguez led the way with three hits each while Morales chipped in with a hit of his own as the designated hitter The lively atmosphere at the association s home games stands out compared to what they ve seen elsewhere Morales disclosed Fans honk horns after big plays Latin music plays over the speakers during pregame and between innings and a concession vendor known as Luka s Mini Treats serves up Mexican-style hot dogs and mini pancakes Remi Becerra grills up Mexican-style hotdogs at a Willmar Indians baseball contest on July Credit MinnPost photo by Brian Arola Raquel the society address announcer at home games feels a strong sense of advocacy surrounding the squad I ve been very proud of everything they ve done all the effort and passion they ve put into it she noted Advocacy even comes from Major League Baseball Morales revealed His nickname is Yankee after his favorite group growing up but he has good reason to keep a close eye on the San Francisco Giants these days Heliot Ramos an outfielder having a strong season for the Giants is Morales cousin and has been checking in to see how the new club is doing Looking ahead to future seasons Morales wants to keep building up a population feel around the group He invites young players to practice with the group wanting the local Latino communities to have the chance to live the event like he does I ve made so various friends I call my brothers this day through baseball he mentioned Baseball means everything to me The post A gang of their own New baseball squad represents Willmar s Latino society appeared first on MinnPost